Somebody That I Used to Know
by Adrian Jade
Summary: Phil Brooks had everything going for him, he had a great job and an amazing wife, but after a terrible tragedy causes Phil's whole world to be turned upside down, will he be able to put the pieces of his shattered life back together? Please keep an open mind about this one
1. Prologue

Prologue:

September 11, 2001

It was just like any other morning to Phillip Brooks. He woke up at six forty-five as he had done every other morning since he had taken his job as an ad agent. He groaned slightly as he sat up in bed and pushed the covers off of himself. He rubbed his tired eyes to try and get the sleep out of them.

"Phil shut off the alarm." his still very tired wife muttered as she turned on her side to face him.

"Sorry." he said the same thing every morning. "But in my defense there was a time when this alarm was set for you as well." he laughed. Kennedy, his wife, was a school teacher but she had just started her maternity leave, she was just a mere two weeks away from giving birth to their son, whom they planned on naming Owen Jack Brooks.

She rolled her eyes before closing them again. He kissed her temple before standing up and shutting the alarm off. "Another day another dollar in our son's college fund." he reminded himself as he stretched and got ready to start his day.

He appeared back in their bedroom fifteen minutes later and soon enough was fully dressed in his suit and tie. He hated having to wear a suit to work every morning but it was a good job so all he could really do was count his blessings and count the days till the weekend when he didn't have to work.

"Ken, I am heading out now." he softly called to his wife.

"Have a good day Philly." she replied back to him. "Be safe."

"I always am." he reminded her before leaving the room.

To some Phil Brook's life may seem mundane, getting up and doing the same thing day after day. Seeing the same people constantly, Phil himself would admit that it was not for the faint of heart. Growing up he never pictured himself as being the suit and tie kind of man, he had wanted to be a pilot or a professional boxer, but those were just childish dreams. But sometimes when he found himself on the subway coming home from work he would let his mind wonder.

"Morning Charlie." Phil yelled out as he made his way to the security guard, the same one he saw every morning.

"Well hello Young Phillip. How's your wife doing?" Charlie was an older gentleman who had taken a liking to Phil right away. But that could be because Phil would bring him a coffee every morning.

"She's doing good. The doctor said it could be any time now. We're both very excited."

"Good for you both. Be careful going home tonight Young Phillip, looks like rain."

Phil looked up at the sky. It was a clear blue, there was no way it was going to rain on such a fine day. "Nah Charlie. Your eyesight must being going." he lightly teased the older gentleman. "There isn't even a cloud in the sky today."

"I'm tellin ya I feel it in these old bones. It's going to rain."

Phil let out another small chuckle. "I'll take your old bones into consideration Charlie. I gotta go in now. Have a good day."

"You too Young Phillip. You too."

The ride up to the thirty-first floor was a quiet one. Phil was still early, he liked to have at least ten minutes to just sit at his desk and get settled before his crazy work day started. The elevator dinged as it stopped on his floor and opened up it's doors. Phil strode past Betty, the woman who worked at the front desk, he said hello to her before continuing his way to his desk. With a sigh he sat down and looked at the picture he kept of at his desk of himself and Kennedy on their wedding day. It was so hard to believe that that was three years earlier. Time sure flew by. But he couldn't help but feel proud of both himself and his young bride. Shortly after getting married Phil had gotten his current job and the newlyweds packed up and left their native Chicago, leaving all their family and friends behind to come to the Big Apple. It had been hard to adjust for them but they had and now they both had jobs and were expecting a baby boy in the coming weeks. Phil let out a content sigh he had an absolutely perfect life, he really did.

They say that your whole life can change in an instant. All it takes is a blink of an eye and everything is different. One moment Phil was happily staring at the photo of his wedding day the next moment everything had gone black. Phil was blissfully unconscious as the madness set in around him.

Perhaps if he had been awake he could have taken what Old Charlie had said into consideration. He had said it would rain, and rain it did.

Kennedy Brooks watched in horror as the event played out on the screen. Her lips silently whispering a prayer for her husband. She had never been so scared before in her entire life. How could this be happening? It was like she was in some sort of nightmare that she could not wake up from. All she could do was watch and pray that Phil would be returning home to her that night.

A/N: First off I want to just come out and say that I do not mean to be disrespectful at all. I was thinking about how much time has passed since that horrible day and I got this idea. I am not trying to make fun or cause any disrespect to anyone. I am sorry if this story causes anyone undue distress because that is not my intention. I promise that this story does get better. So if you stick with it I promise you will not be disappointed.


	2. Chapter 1

She looked down at her beautiful baby boy. His eyes were closed but his little face was scrunched up and red from crying. She felt like crying with him, he was all she had left of him, of the man who promised to spend the rest of his life with her. She never expected their time would be this short. Her brother Scott, who everyone knew as Colt came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"He's beautiful Ken." she leaned back in an attempt to steal some of his strength. Colt and Phil had been best friends since they were kids. "So what's his name?"

"We were going with Owen but Phil was never a huge fan of the name. He liked William better so I decided to do this one last thing for him. I decided to name our son William Phillip Jack Brooks in honor of his father. But we can call him Liam for short."

"Liam I like it." Colt approved as he placed a kiss on the crown of his little sister's head. When Phil first asked if he could date his younger sister Colt had been dead set against it. Nobody would ever be good enough for his little sister, but Phil had been persistent so eventually Colt had relented and allowed the man to date his sister. He had been glad he did but now he wasn't so sure anymore.

Colt felt so helpless, he wanted to take his sister's pain away from her and take it on himself but he knew he couldn't. So he just stood there with her, holding her in his arms. "You're going to be alright Ken. Both you and Liam will be ok. It'll be hard but your family is here for you. Come back to Chicago and stay with me until you can be on your own."

Kennedy wanted to say no. She wanted to say that she was fine in the little apartment she and Phil once shared but she couldn't because she was not fine. Her husband was taken from her, she had to bury and empty coffin because his body had never been recovered. So she simply nodded, for once she would forget her foolish independence and allow her brother to take care of her like he used to when they were kids.

–

In that very same hospital there was a man laying in the ICU. He had been pulled out of the wreckage two weeks prior. But he had no identification on him. All he had with him was a simple gold band with the name Kennedy inscribed inside.

John Doe, as they were calling him suffered severe cranial trauma and was currently being medically sedated until they knew the extent of his injuries. But nobody knew what would happen to the patient once he woke up. There was no family to contact that they knew of. The future was very uncertain for patient John Doe.

–

"You are perfect in every single way." Kennedy cooed as she kissed her son's tiny fingers. "Your daddy would have loved you. He was so excited when we found out about you. He couldn't wait to turn you into a little Cubs fan." A few tears escaped her eyes. How could things go from being pretty near perfect to devastating in such a sort time?

"You ready Ken?" Colt asked from the doorway. They were leaving for the airport straight from the hospital. Colt and her other brother Greg had taken the liberty of going and getting all their stuff from the apartment so that she would not have to go back there.

"As ready as we will ever be." She stood from the bed she had been sitting on.

"Lemme see Little Man." Colt extended his arms to take his newborn nephew. A lump welling in his throat once he was there. He looked so much like his father. "Let's get you home Liam. When you are older I will tell you about all the trouble me and your dad used to get into when we were younger."

Kennedy gave a small laugh. " Let's go home Scotty."

She followed her brothers outside of the hospital but stopped to look once at the city she had called home for the last three years. The one that had taken almost everything from her. But it had not gotten everything, she still had her little boy, no matter how much she just wanted to curl up in a ball and die she needed to carry on for him. He needed her so she would be there for him. She wasn't sure how but she would be.


	3. Chapter 2

"You know Ken you don't have to come with me. You and Liam can just stay here." Colt watched as his sister pack a bag for herself and Liam from the bedroom doorway.

"Nah, it's cool. I think I am ready to go back." Colt had some business in New York and he had invited his sister and his young nephew to go with him. "I need to go back Scotty. It's been five years it's about time I let myself have closure."

"Mommy." Five-year-old Liam ran into the room. Even after all this time whenever Colt or Kennedy saw Liam their breath hitched for a moment because he looked so much like his father.

Kennedy stopped what she was doing. "What is it my little man?"

Liam hopped up onto the bed. "Can I bring Mr. Puppy with me on our trip?"

"Of course you can. How can you possibly go to sleep without Mr. Puppy." she wrapped her arms around him and kissed the top of his head.

"This is gonna be the bestest trip ever!" the young boy grinned up at his uncle and mother. Both adults wished they could share his enthusiasm. Neither of them were particularly excited about returning to New York but they knew they had to.

"I cannot wait to show my favorite little man all the sites." Colt scooped Liam into his arms. Kennedy smiled, Colt had been so great to them since they had come to live with them. He was so great with Liam, she wouldn't know what to do without him.

"I love you Uncle Scotty." Liam giggled.

"I love you too Buddy." he placed the small child on his feet and the siblings watched as he took off to his room.

"He is so amazing. He's so happy to be taking a trip. He has no idea of the sadness that we all felt the last time we were there." Kennedy marveled.

"He has no memories of the last time he was there Ken. He has no idea of what happened. That would be way too much for a little boy to handle."

"He's started asking about him you know. He asked me the other night if his daddy ever got sad in heaven because we were not with him." As Liam had gotten older Colt and Kennedy and the rest of their family had been very careful about what they told the little boy about his father. He knew that his Daddy loved him very much and that he had went to heaven and because of that he could not live with them. For the time being that was enough.

"What did you tell him?" Colt asked.

"I told him that I imagine he did sometimes because he did not get to see his beautiful face everyday." she broke down then. Even now everyday was a struggle. "I still have no idea how to live without him. Every time Liam smiles or makes that goofy face he makes and it's just all Phil. Sometimes it hurts so much to look at him."

"I know it's hard Ken. Believe me I have seen you struggle. But you are doing such a great job with him. I mean he's such a happy little boy. Phil would be so proud of how you have handled everything. He really would." Colt wrapped his arms around his sister. "I know I am."

"I just want my little boy to know his dad." she sobbed. Her tears soaked into Colt's shirt as he held her.

"He will. Just not in the way that most kids know their dad. But we are always telling him stories about Phil and he has home movies and pictures. He knows his dad."

–

Jackson Durante, that is the name he decided on when he awoke from his coma. The doctors told him that he hit his head pretty hard and because of the swelling he had seemed to have developed amnesia. He had no memory of his past, no clues to who he was before that fateful September day. Over the years he had come to accept that, it was hard at first but he had gotten used to it. But something always bothered him. He had woken up with a wedding band on his hand so obviously he had had a wife, but where the hell was she? All he had to go on was the name Kennedy which was next to nothing, it would be impossible to even attempt to find some random person named Kennedy in a city as big as New York.

He looked around him, to the place he had called home since he had woken up. He had flown into rages when he first woke up so as soon as he was physically able they moved him to their psychiatric ward, he wasn't supposed to have stayed this long but it was all he knew. The schedule was all he knew, they told him what time to wake up, eat breakfast, take his meds, watch television.

Jackson tried not to think of how tedious it all was. But not on that day, today was the day that he was going to go out to see the world. Because he was where he was willingly he was allowed to leave whenever he wanted. Most of the time he just stayed where he was but on the rare occasion at his psychologist's advice he attended a support group that specialized in people who were either in the building on that day or to the families of those who lost someone. When he had first started going he thought that maybe, just maybe he would find a member of his family there. That someone would recognize him and tell him who the hell he was. But as of yet that had not happened. He had pretty much given up at that point.

Jackson looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was long almost to his shoulders by that point and he needed to shave, his beard was starting to get out of control. But he looked past those superficial things and stared into his own eyes, did he share his eyes with anyone? His mother perhaps or maybe his father. Did he have siblings, if so was he close with them? So many unanswered questions and with nobody to give him any answers sometimes it was maddening.

Jackson sometimes got so mad he wanted to hit somebody. He was frustrated, he wanted to know who he was. He wanted to know if there was anybody out there missing him. In essence he wanted his life back. But he had nothing to go on, so he would remain where he was.

"Come on stop feeling sorry for yourself." he scolded his own reflection. "You could be dead. In fact you probably should be." With that he left his room and ventured out into the main area.

"Have a good day Jax and remember you have to be back by six-thirty." His favorite nurse Shelia reminded him.

"I know I'll be back." he pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up so that it covered his face. He just didn't feel like dealing with people on that particular day. That was another thing that he tried to figure out. Was he always this antisocial or did this come with the head trauma? He could not be sure.

He strolled down the streets and thought about what he did know about himself. He hated crowds, that was a big one. He also seemed to have a sweet tooth, especially for red Starbursts and chocolate chip cookies. He hardly ever slept, he liked horror movies and his favorite superhero was Batman. But the question of the hour was if he liked any of this stuff before he became Jackson. He was so deep in thought he accidentally bumped into someone.

"Sorry." he mumbled as he chanced a brief look at who he bumped into. It was a man with a little boy on his shoulders.

"No harm done dude." the man said before starting to walk again. Jackson started walking too but chanced a look again. The man was accompanied by a woman with long light brown hair. But what had stopped him was that the young boy had turned around to look at him. He gave him a smile and waved as if somehow he knew him.

Jackson waved back as not to be rude but he could not help being a little unsettled. The boy reminded him of someone he knew but he couldn't figure out who. After another moment he shrugged it off and continued on his way.

–

"I think that man was homeless." Kennedy told her brother. "I feel so bad for him."

"Ken." Colt laughed. "He probably wasn't homeless maybe he just likes the long hair and crazy beard look. You are just thinking too much."

Kennedy bit her lower lip. Something could not stop her from thinking about that man. She had no idea what it was but her gut told her that there was something. Soon she too just brushed it off, not knowing how close she was to seeing the man she loved again.

"Come on Liam let's go see the Statue of Liberty."


	4. Chapter 3

September 2012

It had been twelve years and Jackson still had no idea who he was. But he had accepted that fact. The longer he went the less and less he figured he would ever regain his memory so he adapted. He left the hospital and began living in a halfway house. He got a job working as a clerk in a comic book store. His life was not what anyone would say was perfect but it worked for him. Right after he left the hospital he had taken up boxing, he was pretty good at it and it was a great way to work out his aggression.

He had found that with the more time that passed the more frustrated he became which usually left his so angry. It had been on of his doctors that had suggested taking up boxing. He found he was pretty good at it. He couldn't help but wonder if this was something he enjoyed doing in his other life. That is what he referred to it as, his other life.

He wiped the sweat off of his forehead with a towel. His arms and legs were a little sore but otherwise he felt pretty good about himself. He had gone ten rounds with his sparring partner only to take him in the last round.

"Good fight man." he helped the younger kid up.

"You too Jax." They shook hands before Jackson left the ring. He wanted to get maybe a half hour in with the punching bag before he headed back to the halfway house. He cracked his neck as he walked and it was in that instant that something hit him. He stood there stunned, his eyes wide. He could not really explain it. It wasn't a flash or a memory, but it was more like a feeling. Chicago, he needed to go to Chicago.

He had no idea why he felt that way but it was almost like something was pulling him there. He had no idea if he had ever been to The Windy City. But something was telling him that he needed to go and he needed to go now.

He grabbed his gym bag and left without another thought. The councilors at the house all said hi to him but he breezed right past them into his room. They watched him go with mild concern but since he wasn't like the usual people they had there they left him alone. After changing his clothes he headed to the common room to use the computer. He was pretty shitty with anything electronic but he managed to be able to learn how to use the internet.

At first he just typed the word Chicago into Google. He had no idea where to start or why that one particular city in Illinois was important. But he knew that he had to get there no matter what. So before he could even truly realize what he was doing he had purchased a ticket on a greyhound bus. It would be a grueling almost eighteen hour bus ride but he needed to do it. He knew himself well enough to know that he would not be able to rest until he found out why Chicago was important.

He went to bed that night feeling slightly hopeful. Maybe there was something about Illinois that would trigger something. Maybe that was where he was from. Maybe Chicago was the key to figuring out who he truly was. All he knew was that he needed to find out.


End file.
